Restorative justice provides new path for prisoners

….Restorative Justice, a program that encourages reflection and restitution, has helped change the lives of countless offenders. It begins with a class, Impact of Crime on Victims, in which inmates learn about the magnitude of their actions. Inmates then have options — a sewing class, dog training, a garden — that offer them a chance to give something back to the communities they have hurt.

Determined to make the best of a bad situation, Baumgardner, 55, has taken advantage of the few opportunities he has left. He’s an inmate leader of the garden project, which donated 24,066 pounds of food to food banks across the state in 2011.

“I was always a taker, and now as far as I can, I try to give back,” Baumgardner says. “This is my community now. Even though we’re in prison, we’re still people. Some of these guys would be better neighbors than what people actually have out there.”

It was Baumgardner’s neighborly advice that got King, 38, involved in the garden, but it was the class that led him to take a look at himself.

“There are so many things that we take for granted that gets taken away when we get to prison; it’s unbelievable,” King says. “Apparently it was wrongdoings that brought me to prison. Now I’m trying to do the right things.”

Starr, 43, wouldn’t be where he is without his friends’ encouragement, either. After living what he calls a negative existence in prison, culminating in the attempted homicide six years ago, he was transferred to the Jefferson City prison and came across old acquaintances from the streets. They weren’t the same men anymore, though. They’d been through the program, and they urged Starr to give it a chance. He decided to attend, not expecting to get anything out of it. The change crept up on him.

“I gambled on buying into things I was hearing in the classroom,” Starr says. “It all turned out to be accurate and true if you gave it a chance. It has been a tremendous life change for me.”

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